It is an attack on democracy: BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday termed as "undemocratic" the police action to break up the anti-corruption hunger strike launched by Baba Ramdev and thousands of his supporters in New Delhi.

"It is an attack on democracy. It reminds me of 1975 when the government became dictatorial. This is just like the emergency. This is undemocratic," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.

Javadekar was reacting to police forcibly removing Ramdev and his supporters from the sprawling Ramlila Ground a little after Saturday midnight.

As police asked the protesters to clear the area, some of Ramdev supporters armed themselves with iron rods, fire extinguishers and what appeared to be baseball bats. Some even threw stones at police.

The police used tear gas shells and canes to disperse thousands of the yoga guru's supporters to end the indefinite hunger strike he had launched less than 24 hours ago.

Javadekar criticised the way the government "mishandled the incident" saying it was "barbaric and we condemn that".